Wet ground conditions on a construction site or in a building shell can delay progress on the project. Conventionally, it is required to wait for weather conditions to change, and for natural drying conditions to occur. Where economically feasible, it is also sometimes known to remove wet soil and replace it with drier material if such is available within a reasonable distance. Such removal is often not possible if soil is very wet.
Wet soil conditions are of course more common in geographic areas with high rainfall, and in such areas considerable down-time is experienced. Often just as the ground is drying to a suitable level, more rain will fall wetting the soil again.
The problem of flooded or wet buildings has been addressed in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,258 to Cressy et al. discloses an apparatus for drying flooded buildings by introducing very hot and dry air into the building, indicated as being at 125° F. and 5% relative humidity, in order to dry the building very quickly to prevent mold growth and allow an early return to occupants. In the apparatus of Cressy et al., outside air is heated by a furnace and the heated air is blown into the building where it picks up moisture and then is exhausted back outside.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,639 to Storrer, “Moisture Removal System”, addresses the problem of extracting water promptly to prevent the formation of rot, mold, rust and the like in flooded buildings. Storrer reveals the prior art as including passive drying through opening windows, etc. and active drying using forced air (heated or not) to expedite evaporation.